Mysore Grahakara Parishat The Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) is planning to stage a protest outside the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) building here at 3.30 p.m. on Monday to urge the government to address the recurring water crisis in Mysore city.

The MGP is demanding short- and medium-term plans to solve the problem once and for all.

Among the short-term plans, the MGP has extended its support to the implementation of the proposal by the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) to stop pumping water from the Devaraya canal (because it is apparently not a reliable source) and instead pump water from the riverbed upstream from Sethikatte, said B.S. Shankara of the MGP.

“This should be done urgently and at any rate before the next summer,” he said.

Expert committee

As a medium-term plan, the MGP has favoured the formation of an expert committee to develop an action plan for the next five years to ensure water supply even under conditions more severe than this year.

Autonomous body

The MGP has also called for the formation of an autonomous body to manage Mysore’s water supply (and sewage) and a regulatory commission along the lines of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) to regulate the water supply body, Mr. Shankara said in the release.

“Mysore is flirting with danger every year as far as water supply is concerned. Every summer, the water-level in the KRS goes down and many areas of Mysore do not get drinking water for several days at a stretch.

But just before disaster, it starts raining and we are saved once again,” he explained.

But we are getting closer to an acute water crisis every year with the increasing population and demand for Cauvery water.

“It is just good luck that has protected us till now,” he said.

“The water crisis can be prevented or at least greatly mitigated with planning and good management, but the present setup is not geared for either.

There are too many agencies — MCC, VVWW, JUSCO, KUWSDB and the Irrigation Department — which have an effect on the water supply and there is no coordination between these agencies,” he said.

He charged that “the agencies are all guilty of grave irresponsibility and passing the buck, and every year they start digging the well only after the house is on fire. This has to stop,” he added.